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Bowel cancer

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer after non-melanoma skin cancer1 and prostate cancer, with one in 12 Australians developing bowel cancer by the age of 85. It is the second most common cause of cancer-related death in Australia, after lung cancer.

The good news is that if bowel cancer is detected and treated at the earliest stage, the cure rate is around 90%. The Australian Government introduced the National Bowel Cancer Screening program in 2006, initially providing limited screening as a one-off test for people turning 55 and 65.

Since then the program has expanded under successive governments. Currently under the program, a free FOBT kit is mailed to Australians aged 50, 55, 60, 64, 65, 70, 72 and 74. The program will be fully implemented by 2020, inviting all Australians aged 50 to 74 to screen every two years.